Thousands demand Shafiq be banned from election

‘NO TO LEFTOVERS’:The former prime minister’s success in the elections has alarmed Egypt’s revolutionaries, as the Muslim Brotherhood promises a retrial of Mubarak

AFP, CAIRO

Paper masks depicting former Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak, left, former Egyptian prime minister and presidential candidate Ahmed Shafiq, center and other Mubarak aides are readied for a mock trial at a protest in Cairo, Egypt, on Friday.

Photo: EPA

Thousands of people demonstrated in Egypt on Friday to demand ousted Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak’s last prime minister, Ahmed Shafiq, be banned from a run-off presidential election, even as Shafiq pledged to uphold freedoms if he won.

The protesters also denounced verdicts in the trial of Mubarak and his security chiefs amid reports that the ailing strongmen sentenced to life in prison for the deaths of protesters could be transferred from jail to military hospital.

Mubarak and former Egyptian minister of the interior Habib al-Adly were sentenced to life terms on June 2, but the court acquitted six police commanders of the shared charges of ordering the killings of protesters during last year’s uprising.

In Cairo’s Tahrir Square, the hub of nationwide protests that overthrew Mubarak last year, more than 5,000 protesters denounced Shafiq and the Mubarak verdicts as activists staged a mock trial of the ousted president on a wooden podium.

A man dressed in a judge’s robe sentenced Mubarak and his cohorts to death as the crowd chanted: “God is greatest!”

“No to leftovers from the old regime,” one placard read, in an allusion to Shafiq, who faces the Muslim Brotherhood’s candidate Mohammed Mursi in next week’s run-off election.

Smaller protests were held in Alexandria on the Mediterranean coast and several other cities.

In a press conference, Shafiq, whose strong showing in the election’s first round last month sent shock waves throughout the fragmented groups that helped overthrow Mubarak, pledged he would uphold freedoms.

“Public squares will be free and secure for expression,” he said. “I promise you, no youth will be arrested for political activities.”

Shafiq launched a vehement attack against his Islamist opponents, accusing the Brotherhood of wanting “obedient youth that kiss hands.”

The Brotherhood has accused Shafiq of wanting to restore Mubarak’s rule, which ended in February last year after an 18-day uprising that killed about 850 people.

Mubarak and his security chiefs were accused of ordering some of the protesters’ deaths, but the court said the prosecution’s witnesses were unreliable and there was no proof. Instead, Mubarak and Adly were convicted of failing to prevent the deaths.

The 84-year-old’s health has reportedly deteriorated since his incarceration in Cairo’s Tora prison after the sentencing, and the official MENA news agency reported that he might be moved back to a military hospital.

A security official said a team of doctors who reviewed Mubarak’s health said the prison medical facilities were sufficient, but advised the state prosecutor that Mubarak should be moved to hospital if his health deteriorated.

The verdict in the trial has impacted the presidential election, with the Brotherhood seizing on the popular outrage to portray its candidate Mursi as a revolutionary who would retry Mubarak.

The protests have also targeted Shafiq, who is deeply unpopular with the political groups that joined the anti-Mubarak revolt. They demand the application of a law passed before the first round of voting that excluded top Mubarak officials from running.

Shafiq was initially disqualified from standing, but, in late April, the electoral commission accepted an appeal from him and referred the case to the Egyptian Supreme Constitutional Court.

The court is to sit on Thursday, two days ahead of the run-off, to review the law.